A broadcasting snafu revealed the NCAA women’s basketball tournament bracket on ESPNU several hours earlier than scheduled Monday afternoon, and it showed the Maryland women’s basketball team is the No. 3 seed of the Albany region and will host Radford for its first-round game Saturday in College Park.
Shortly after the premature reveal, ESPN bumped up the time of the official selection show by two hours, from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m., and confirmed the bracket was accurate at the top of the rescheduled telecast, along with issuing an apology for the mistake.
The Terps (28-4, 15-3 Big Ten) were slotted as a No. 3 seed in each of the prior two committee seedings. And a 90-76 loss to Iowa — the No. 2 seed in the Greensboro region — in the Big Ten tournament championship game sealed their spot on that line.
Radford (26-6, 17-1 Big South) enters the tournament riding an 18-game winning streak, earning the Big South auto-bid and a No. 14-seed by beating Campbell in the conference tournament championship. The Highlanders had a couple of notable nonconference opponents, losing to No. 3-seed NC State, 75-58, and dropping a 77-39 game to Nebraska.
The Highlanders, who rank No. 75 in RPI, had two wins over top-100 RPI opponents (Virginia and VCU).
If the Terps move on, they would face the winner of No. 6-seed UCLA (20-12, 12-6 Pac-12) and No. 11-seed Tennessee (19-12, 7-9 SEC) on Monday in College Park.
Louisville is the region’s top seed, while UConn is the No. 2 seed and Oregon State is the No. 4 seed.
Maryland finished the season with a lofty 28-4 overall record, but a relatively easy schedule (No. 66 in the country) dipped its RPI to No. 14 and prevented the team from garnering a higher seed.
Last season, Maryland was the No. 5 seed in the Kansas City region. After beating Princeton, 77-57, in the opening round, the team dropped a 74-60 decision to No. 4-seed NC State in the second round.
